Help at Home

• Reading
• Writing
• Language Arts
• Reasoning skills
• Math skills
• Exercises in practical life
• Coping with the stress triggers
• Homework
• Examinations
• After the exams
• Social skills
  
  

What parents can do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most important thing that a parent must do is to accept the child with all his strengths & difficulties. Accept the fact that he has certain problems and assist him in coping with them rather than comparing him unfavorably with other high achievers.

Both parents need to work together.

Give structure to the child's life. There should be a fixed place for everything, and fixed time for all his activities.

Always talk to the child in a moderate tone. Be precise in your language and talk in short sentences. Use gestures to reinforce your words.

Do not compare him unfavourably with your other children. Recognise his individuality.

Make his learning as experiential as possible. Encourage him to think differently and creatively.

Explore new professions, which challenge and satisfy him for eg. Drama, graphics, music, sports etc

Parents must remember that the defeat that is so often experienced by an LD child and the accompanying fear, anger and guilt and most of all the anxiety experienced by the parents can cause severe emotional strain.

If a child feels completely lost in his academics, if his coping skills are deteriorating, then it is very important to seek professional help.

Here are some simple tips for parents:

Reading

• Try paired reading – reading along with the child
• Modeling by reading aloud
• Try reading in turns

Writing
These are some pre-writing skills especially for children around 5 years of age:

• Dot to dot activities
• Tracing
• Colouring
• Drawing
• Painting
• Cutting and pasting
• Guided hand writing practice (5 min)

Language Arts
Following are a few strategies to enhance your child’s language processing abilities:

• Listen to the child
• Encourage conversation
• Make up stories
• Word building games
• Dictionary activities
• Appreciating poetry & music
• Recitation of slokas
• Media based activities

Reasoning skills
You could try a few of the following activities to improve you child's reasoning abilities:

• Process daily problems
• Reason out cause & effect of behaviour
• Play riddles & puzzles
• Stories (Tenali Rama, Vikramaditya, Panchatantra)
• Encourage humour
• Computer games

Math skills
Mathematics can be a nightmare for the LD child if she does not understand the rationale and application. Here are a few things you can consider doing as a parent:

• Mediate math into daily life activities and create interest
• Encourage mathematical reasoning
• Practise mental math
• Teach strategies for quick calculations
• Recite the tables everyday

Exercises in practical life

• Children need to feel useful. Involve the child by giving him responsibilities. This will enhance his self-worth.
• Assign simple daily household tasks
• Give brief instructions
• Break down task into simple steps
• Model each step

Coping with the stress triggers

Homework
Homework can be extremely stressful for the parent especially if the child does not write it down. Parents can either seek the cooperation of the concerned teacher or take the help of another parent who understands your child’s difficulty. Here are some dos and don'ts:

• Never do her homework for the child
• Agree on a fixed time
• Clarify expectations
• Break down activity into steps
• Help child in self assessment
• Encourage co-curricular activities
• Avoid physical punishment

Examinations
Before the exams make sure you:

• Have a positive attitude, stay calm , relax
• Help draft a time-table
• Support – do not pressurise
• Teach use of study skills
• Ensure adequate sleep & nutritious food
• Check stationery

After the exams

• Appreciate generously
• Do not lose temper
• Critique – do not criticise
• Discuss errors objectively
• Encourage self-correction

Social skills
Children with learning difficulties quite often have poor social skills. As a parent:

• Encourage extra-curricular activities
• Avoid "all work & no play"
• Involve child in organising family functions
• Encourage empathy
• Focus on being – not becoming
• Show affection – be demonstrative